


Second Chances

by Bright_Patterson



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Bisexual Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Canon Typical Ghost Hyjinks, Getting Together, Ghosts Kissing, M/M, Past Alex (Julie and The Phantoms)/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Pining, alex and julie are the only ones with braincells here, alex and luke are exes, and for good measure, i will not be accepting any criticism at this time, julie and flynn are girlfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26589553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bright_Patterson/pseuds/Bright_Patterson
Summary: They were warming up to rehearse with Julie, and Reggie smiled at him from across the garage. He wasn't sure how it happened, but the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He loved Reggie.AlternativelyLuke's been in love with Reggie since the '90s, but only really figures it out when they come back in 2020.
Relationships: Flynn/Julie Molina (Mentioned), Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 577





	Second Chances

They were warming up to rehearse with Julie, and Reggie smiled at him from across the garage. He wasn't sure how it happened, but the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He loved Reggie. 

He's always been an affectionate person. At any given time he could be found sprawled across his friends’ laps or draped over their shoulders. It was just natural for him to be physically close with his friends, but it was different with Reggie. With Reggie, it was hands cupping faces, hugs that lasted just barely too long to be casual, and lingering glances at lips when the other wasn't looking. It was clear blue eyes, crooked teeth smiling at him, sitting close enough to knock shoulders and knees, and lyrics that were far too personal to leave his songbook. He'd written countless songs about Reggie. It was expected, he wrote about whatever he was feeling. There were songs about his dreams, his home, hell - there were even a few about his short-lived relationship with Alex, but most of the songs he's written in the past three months have been about Reggie. When he'd presented the lyrics to  _ "Crooked Teeth" _ to the band, Alex gave him a sly smile, and Bobby nodded at him. Reggie, however, clapped Alex on the shoulder and teased them about how cute it was of Luke to write a song about him. He really was in love with an idiot.

Even after 25 years, he still felt the same about Reggie, which made sense because it only felt like they’d been dead a few months. With their less than stellar home lives, it had always been an inside joke between him, Reggie, and Alex that if they had to die they'd do it together, but none of them had ever actually expected it to happen like that. How they died didn’t even matter now that they had a second chance. They could play music together, and do what they couldn’t do when they were alive. Alex had genuine love with Willie, which is something that seemed out of his depth in the ’90s, and Luke still had Reggie. He’d taken his feelings to the grave, but now that they were back, he was not about to let that opportunity go so soon. 

____________________________________________________________

He told Alex first, it was only fair after he’d been dealing with Luke’s pining for over 25 years. He found him in the garage, looking over some sheet music at the piano.

“I’m in love with Reggie.”

Alex looks at him with a flat expression. “Figured that one out, have ya, Lucas?”

“Oh, c’mon Alex, you could at least  _ pretend  _ to be surprised.” 

“Nope, not after putting up with both of your shit for so long,” he responded, smiling. “Anyway, why are you finally talking about it now? Not that it’s not a welcome change from your normal ‘staring-at-him-till-he-looks-at-you-then-looking-away’ thing.”

“First of all, I don’t do that-”

“Yes you do.” he interrupted.

“-Second of all,” he resumed, ignoring Alex. “I just realized that we died, and I never told him how I feel. I  _ literally  _ took my feelings to the grave, and now we have a second chance, so I’m not gonna waste it, ya know?” he explains, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand and sitting down on the piano stool.

“That’s surprisingly smart of you,” Alex smirks. “But really, I’m glad that you’re finally doing something about this. If not for your own happiness, then for my patience.”

“That’s sort of my issue though, I don’t really know how to tell him.” 

“Why don’t you just- and I’m just throwing out wild ideas here-  _ talk _ to him?”

“It’s not that simple, Alex! It has to be perfect. He’s too important for me to screw this up by tripping over my words and looking like a dumbass.”

“But you are a dumbass.”

“Alex!”

“Okay, okay. But to be fair so is Reggie,” he relents.

He lets out an overdramatic puff of air and lays his forehead on top of the piano. “He is! But I love him, and  _ that’s _ why it has to be perfect,” he mumbles.

Alex reaches over and runs his fingers through Luke’s hair, smiling at his friend’s dramatics. It’s then that Julie walks in, finally home from her date with Flynn, looking over her shoulder at the house and shaking her head.

“Reggie’s messing around in Carlos’s room and I can’t tell him to stop without looking insane,” she says, grabbing her phone from her backpack. When she finally looks up and sees the scene playing out at the piano, she stops. 

“What’s going on here?” she motions at Luke.

Luke lifts his head and nods once at Alex’s questioning glance.

“He’s in love with Reggie.”

“Oh my gosh, finally!! I didn’t wanna say anything in case you thought it was weird but you guys are so cute!”

Luke’s head shoots up from the piano, looking between Julie and Alex, his own bewildered expression matching Alex’s.

“You knew?” they ask in stereo.

“Uh, duh. It’s so obvious when you guys play together, and not even a blind person could miss the way you both stare at each other when you think the other’s not looking.”

Alex is nodding at her points, but Luke himself still hasn’t processed the fact that she  _ knew _ . 

“So what’s the problem then? You figured out how you feel, now all you have to do is tell him!” she continues.

“Apparently, that’s exactly what his problem is,” Alex answers, “He doesn’t know how to tell him.”

Julie gives them a confused look and fixes her gaze on Luke. “Why don’t you just play one of your songs for him? I’m willing to bet that you have at least 7 about him in your songbook.” she offers like it’s obvious.

“Are you crazy!? None of those songs even begin to explain how I actually feel about Reggie.”

“Then just write a new one,” she says, once again as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

“It’s not that easy!” Luke responds for what feels like the hundredth time.

“But it can be that easy if you stop overcomplicating it,” Alex adds.

Julie nods, “Exactly! All you have to do is put your feelings for him into a song, and we already know you’re great at that.” 

“Maybe I can make that work,” he pauses to think, feeling his confidence rising, “Okay, yeah. I can totally work with that! Thank you guys!” he grins at his friends, standing to pull them both into a big hug. 

When they finally pull apart, Alex poofs into the house, offering to keep Reggie distracted so Luke can write in peace. Julie starts grabbing her stuff to head inside but is stopped by Luke.

“Actually, do you think you can stay and help me with this? Um, if you’re not busy or anything,” he asks.

“Of course! Where do we start?” 

____________________________________________________________

“It’s perfect, thank you so much, Julie,” Luke says sincerely.

In the end, they finished the song in just a few hours, repurposing lyrics and melodies and lyrics from songs Luke wrote about Reggie in the ‘90s, adding modern touches and lyrics where they were needed. If he was being honest with himself, it was probably one of the best songs he’d ever written, on par with  _ “Unsaid Emily” _ and  _ “Stand Tall”. _ “ _ Second Chances”  _ took everything he loved about his relationship with Reggie and put it into words. 

“I’m happy to help.” she responded sincerely, “Now I’m gonna go find Alex and tell him to send your boy in. Good luck, Luke.” 

He felt the nerves begin to set in as she left, this was really it. He was gonna tell Reggie how he felt or die (ha) trying. He didn’t have to wait long before Reggie was warping into the garage.

“Hey, man! What’s up? Alex says you have something to show me.” he says cheerily, smiling in that way that makes his eyes crinkle around the corners, and Luke's heart is beating in his throat. 

“Uh, yeah,” he swallows, “Come sit here for a sec,” he says, patting his hand on the sofa.

Reggie makes his way to the sofa, sitting casually. He spots Luke’s guitar resting behind where Luke himself is sitting on the stool.

“Oooh! Are you playing a new song for me?” he asks excitedly.

“Yeah, I just finished it, it’s called ‘ _ Second Chances’ _ ,” he answers, picking up his guitar and settling into his natural position, feeling it’s familiar weight.

He closes his eyes and starts playing the intro of the song, it’s soft but full of energy, and he feels his nerves melt away as he starts the first verse. He gets all the way to the pre-chorus before opening his eyes but still doesn’t look up at Reggie.

His confidence builds as the music swells leading up to the chorus, and when it hits, he finally looks up at Reggie, locking their eyes and singing directly to him.

_ “In the whole world of missed opportunities, you’re my second chance.” _

He continues singing and playing but gets up to sway with the music, Reggie following his lead. After another minute, they’re dancing around the studio and around each other. The energy in the room is electric and they’re suffocating and breathing more clearly than they ever have at the same time. The song eventually comes to an end with Luke strumming the final chord and letting it ring and breathing deeply. Before Luke can move his guitar, Reggie is pulling him in for an uncomfortable, clumsy kiss and it’s perfect. Luke’s guitar is still between them, it’s teeth clashing and sweaty skin, and they’re both out of breath from dancing around, but it’s perfect. 

“I’m guessing you didn’t hate the song, then.”

“Are you kidding me? I loved it, Luke.” is Reggie’s response, burying his face in the crook of Luke’s neck.

Luke pulls away to set his guitar down and grabs Reggie by the back of his neck pulling him in for a much better kiss this time. 

“Hey, Reg,”

“Yeah, Luke?”

“Spend your afterlife with me?”

“Of course, dumbass.”


End file.
